INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION FOR ACOUTICS
Unconfirmed Minutes of the Board meetings
held on 2001 September 2 and 8 in Rome
Part A – 2001 September 2
1. Opening and approval of the Agenda
President Crum opens the meeting at 8:10 am in the Board Room of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Rome with a roll call.
Present were:
Lawrence Crum, President
Gilles Daigle, Secretary General
Volker Mellert, Treasurer
Hideki Tachibana
Ren-He Zhang
Claude Legros
Giovanni Brambilla
Nikolai A. Dubrovsky (rep. Alexei Nikiforov)
Philip Nelson
Tor Kihlman, Past President
Charles Don
Samir Gerges
Suk Wang Yoon
Juan Gallego-Juarez
Stephen Crandall
Adriano Alippi
Adrianus Houtsma (rep. Jens Blauert)
Regrets were received from Alexei Nikiforov, Shyam Agrawal, Jens Blauert, and Anders Bostrom.
Also present at the meeting was Sonoko Kuwano representing the 18th ICA in Kyoto and Lev Nikitin representing the Russian proposal to host the 19th ICA..
The Agenda is approved.
AGENDA
1.Opening and approval of the Agenda
2.Announcements
3.Minutes of the AC3 meeting held in Nice
4.Report of the IUPAP Council and Commission Chairs meeting (Beijing)
5.Report of Treasurer: Financial Report; Member Dues Status; Travel Expenses
6.Commission Membership
7.Appointment of IUTAM Representative to the Board of ICA
8.IUPAP/IUTAM sponsorship of conferences
9.ICA support and sponsorship of regional meetings
10.Report of Ad Hoc Committee on Conference Grants
11.Research Awards
12.ICA web page: Domain Name Registration
13.ICA 17, Rome 2001. Report
14.ICA 18, Kyoto 2004. Report
15.ICA 19, Presentations of proposals (1:30 – 2:30 pm):
- Societe Française d'Acoustique (Paris)
- East-European Acoustical Association (St. Petersburg)
- UK Institute of Acoustics (Edinburgh)
- Sociedad Espanola de Acustica (Madrid)
16.Other business
17.Next meeting
18.Close of the meeting
2. Announcements
The arrangements for the day are announced. The presentations of proposals for the 19th ICA will commence at 1:30 pm.
3. Minutes of the AC3 meeting held in Nice
The Minutes were approved with no corrections.
4. Report of the IUPAP Council and Commission Chairs meeting (Beijing)
President Crum attended the annual meeting of the IUPAP Council and Commission Chairs on 2000 October 6-7 in Beijing, China.
The President recalls that the ICA is now an Affiliated Commission of both IUPAP and IUTAM. Stephen Crandall is the representative of ICA in IUTAM.
In Beijing, concern was expressed by some that Acoustics had left IUPAP. The issue of whether or not IUPAP should continue to support ICA conferences was raised. President Crum explained the success of the ICA - number of Member Societies, successful Congress in Seattle. Two other Commissions approached the ICA to find out more about the status of “Affiliated.”
The President noted that Acoustics is now a mature field that is as broad as current Physics. Acoustics is on a path of new invigoration. Acoustics should consider broadening. President Crum noted that there is now a large group working in medical acoustics, that IEEE meetings are becoming bigger, and I-INCE has its own meeting. It has been estimated that there are between 50 000 and 100 000 acousticians in the world.
At the previous meeting in CERN the idea of Acoustics becoming a Union was discussed. There was a visitor from ICSU in attendance at the CERN meeting. Union status requires the support of other Unions. IUPAP is supportive. However, there are complications, particularly involving the funding of an Acoustics Union. Unions need “liaison committees” in every country to support their activities. However, an Acoustics Union could use only a small amount of support to begin.
There were a few comments on President’s Crum report.
Crandall noted the competition from IIAV. The IIAV is also an Affiliated Organization of IUTAM. IUTAM has a good budget although it is smaller than the ICA. IUTAM money comes from individual country membership. He pointed out that obtaining money is not without difficulty.
Kihlman noted that the process of becoming a Union must be well planned and will take a long time to prepare. A first step would be to write to all the Member Societies. There is good contact with Scientific Councils in some countries, but not in others (Unions obtain money for National Science Councils). Affiliated Commissions obtain funds from Member Societies. The activities of the ICA are only limited by the budget.
Mellert indicated that he thought seeking Union status was a good idea. However, the approach may be different from country to country. The ICA needs to find out the individual situation and experience.
The next meeting of the IUPAP Council and Commission Chairs will be held in Mexico City on 2001 September 28-29.
5. Report of Treasurer: Financial Report; Member Dues Status; Travel Expenses
A summary of the ICA financial accounts is presented by Treasurer Mellert.
The Treasurer noted the very good record of payment of membership dues. He stressed that cheques should be avoided for the payment of dues and that payment by credit card was preferred. . Next year the DM account will be converted to an account in Euro. The current balance of both the DM and USD accounts is about USD 30k. This year funds were spent to support a small number of symposia and there will be the Young Scientist Conference Attendance Grants for the Rome meeting (about USD 10k). The need to increase expenditure activities was noted.
A few comments followed.
The possibility of other initiatives was raised. An example would be Scholarships or Fellowships. Someone noted that it is a good policy to spread spending as broad as possible. Dubrovsky explained the ASA initiative to support Russian graduates students (and emphasized that this was not an IIAV initiative). Crum commented that the ASA was concerned that the initiative was very specific. Don noted that it is important that initiatives go to different parts of the world with attention to where they are most needed. Nelson explained that his committee distributed 2/3 of the Conferences Grants to developing countries, though the emphasis was on quality. Gerges stressed that the Conference Grants initiative was very stimulating for people and that it should be expanded. Consideration should also be given to the distance involved in traveling to the conference.
The Treasurer agreed to prepare a summary of the budget for the General Assembly. Copies of the viewgraphs were requested [these were circulated to the Board Members on 2001 September 19].
6. Commission Membership
The Treasurer prepared an up-to-date statement of membership dues [a copy was circulated to the Board Members on 2001 September 19].
The Treasurer noted a difficulty with the ASA payment in 2000. Problems with year 2000 payment from the UK, China, Belgium and Austria were noted. France will check regarding payment for 1998 and Korea will check regarding irregular payments.
President Crum informs the Board that a new application for membership was received from the Slovenian Acoustical Society. The membership application is unanimously approved with 1 share. The Slovenian Acoustical Society will have a vote at the General Assembly in Rome.
7. Appointment of IUTAM Representative to the Board of ICA
Crandall explains that he is the Representative of ICA in IUTAM while Anders Bostrom was appointed by IUTAM last year as the Representative of IUTAM in ICA. Prof. Bostrom sends his regrets for not being able to attend the Board meetings in Rome.
8. IUPAP/IUTAM sponsorship of conferences
Two applications were submitted - the 16th International Symposium on Nonlinear Acoustics (ISNA-16) and the 2nd International Symposium on HIFU Therapy. Both conferences were approved by the Board for support and, if required, INSA-16 receiving 1st priority.
President Crum encouraged application to IUPAP and IUTAM for support. He reminded that the Board has an obligation to inform organizers of this support. The international character of a conference is important. The example of WESPRAC becoming WESPAC, thus removing the word “regional” in the title was given.
The 18th ICA in Kyoto needs to send in an application to IUPAP at least 1 year in advance. The forms for application and information are found on the web.
9. ICA support and sponsorship of regional meetings
The Secretary General reviews the support given in 2000 and 2001. The need to encourage more applications is stressed. The President asked the Board to inform organizers of the ICA support. The President will address the General Assembly with the same point.
A letter from the President of the ICA summarizing the activities should be sent to Member Societies along with the dues. President Crum has been doing this.
The Secretary General notes the application for ICA support from the 7th International Symposium on Transport Noise and Vibration to be held in St. Petersburg, Russia in June 2004. The Board approves the conference for sponsorship and pledges 2000 USD to be paid about one year in advance contingent on a prior review.
10. Report of Ad Hoc Committee on Conference Grants
The following written report was submitted by Nelson.
The Young Scientist Conference Attendance Grant Scheme was successfully initiated prior to the 17th ICA to be held in Rome from 2-7 September 2001. The final details of the scheme are described in the attached document. As a result of advertising this scheme, there were 40 applications for support from young scientist in a wide range of countries. Full details of the applicants are also attached.
Each of the applications consisted of a two-page paper and was graded by all members of the Conference Grants Sub-Committee (consisting of Nelson, Yoon, Blauert, and Gerges). The awards were then distributed in accordance to the following criteria:
- The highest graded three papers from “developing countries” were awarded grants of 1000 US Dollars.
- A further 14 grants of 500 US Dollars were awarded to the next highest graded applicants, with a maximum of two grants awarded per country.
- In categorizing the counties, it was assumed that Eastern European countries were “developing”. This specifically included Russia, Romania, Czech Republic, and Poland.
- Finally, confirmation was sought that the successful applicants were under 35 years of age for those cases in which this was not made clear in the application.
Finally, it was noted that the scheme was implemented by Alippi.
11. Research Awards
At meetings of the IUPAP Council and Commission Chairs, each Commission reports on Awards and their awards program is emphasized. It is considered good publicity. In the past the ICA has discussed the possibility of raising money as gift for the purpose of granting awards.
President Crum makes a proposal - that the sum of 1000 USD be used for award(s) to outstanding early career person. Targeting early career person has the advantage of the award being important for career development. Crum volunteered to Chair a committee to define the criteria for such an award.
There were a number of comments in favor of the proposal. Nelson suggested that nominations could come from Member Societies or individuals with supporting letters.
Crum indicated that his Committee would produce a Nomination “template” to be approved by the Board. Crum will report to the Board at its next meeting.
12. ICA web page: Domain Name Registration
The URL of the web page favored by the Board [ is now implemented. The Secretary General said that the web page was designed in the mid 90’s and that a “face-lift” was probably needed. There was agreement that some re-design of the site would be a good idea.
The transition will be worked out with the new Secretary General.
13. ICA 17, Rome 2001. Report
The report is presented by the Chairman of the 17th ICA, Prof. Adriano Alippi. About 1550 abstract were received resulting in a total of about 1450 papers being received. There were about 200 students registered and paying half fees. As much information as possible was posted to the 17th ICA web page. The conflict with EuroSpeech was noted. Alippi mentioned that there was some confusion with invited speaker. The invitation was scientific only and did not include financial support. He pointed out that the scheduled included 3 to 4 Keynote speakers at one-time. The Proceedings are on 4 CDs. There is program summary and a book of abstracts. Alippi reported that the Plenary sessions were scheduled in a nearby theatre that was closed down one week prior to the Congress. Alternative arrangements have been made to hold the Plenary sessions on the campus of the University of Rome. Shuttle transportation will be provided. The Opening Ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm on the Capital hill. Opening remarks by the President are scheduled. There will be an open air Plenary at 7:00 pm followed by musical entertainment at 8:00 pm. The Social Dinner will be held on 5 September in the Hospital Holy Spirit in Saxia. An advanced purchase ticket is required. Arrangements have been made to make lunches available in the cafeteria. Voucher can be bought for 20 000 ITL. Provisions have been made for local first aid in case of medical emergencies. Allipi reports that the break even point occurs at about 1000 participants. The allocations of 5% of registration fees to the Commission will be paid.
14. ICA 18, Kyoto 2004. Report
The report is presented by Prof Sonoko Kuwano, Secretary General of the 18th ICA, with the use of transparencies and a video. The date of the Congress are 2004 April 4 - 9. The venue is the Kyoto International Conference Hall. The proposed registration fee is 350 USD + 5% before 2003 December 1 and 400 USD +5% after 2003 December 1. The registration fee does not include meals. The Science Council will be asked to be a co-sponsor.
The proposed dates for abstracts and manuscripts are - abstracts by 2003 July 15, acceptance by 2003 September 30, manuscripts by 2003 December 1. The discussion suggested that the schedule allows more lead-time than actually required and the organizers were asked to consider a revision.
15. ICA 19, Presentation of proposals (1:30 – 2:30 pm):
- The proposal from the Societe Francaise d’Acoustique (Paris) is presented by Claude Legros with the participation of Manell Zacharia. [Dubrovsky and Nikitin leave the room.]
- The Russian proposal was presented jointly from the East-European Acoustical Association and the Russian Acoustical Society (St. Petersburg) by Nikolai Dubrovsky with the participation of Lev Nikitin.
- The proposal from the UK Institute of Acoustics (Edinburgh) was presented by Bernard Berry with the participation of Roy Bratby.
- The proposal from the Sociedad Espanola de Acustica (Madrid) was presented by Salvador Santiago with the participation of Antonio Perez-Lopez and Antonio Calvo-Manzuno.
Before the general discussion of the proposals, Board members Legros, Nelson and Gallego-Juarez, as well as Dubrovsky and Nikitin leave the room.
Following the formal presentations, the Board considered the requirements to host the International Congress on Acoustics as summarized in the Commission Guidelines, and debated the merits of the four proposals. Ballots were then prepared and each Board Member was asked to rank order the four proposals. A second ballot with the top three proposals was circulated for vote to confirm the result.
In both votes, one proposal stood out as clearly the choice of the Board Members. Accordingly, the proposal from the Sociedad Espanola de Acustica was retained and Madrid was chosen as the site of the 19th triennial Congress in 2007.
All presenters should be thanked and informed of the result orally followed by a letter from the President.
There are a few critical points that required clarification regarding the plans for Madrid such as removal of the lunches in the registration fee. They should also be encouraged to increase the sponsorship for the Congress.
16. Other business
Details for the upcoming General Assembly are discussed. An Election Committee comprising of S. Crandall and A. Houstma is formed to tally the votes for the new Board members at the General Assembly.
The status of the EAA is discussed. The EAA has been an association under Brussels law since 1992 and there have been problems with this arrangement. Last year a different structure was investigated and starting in 2001 the new EAA is now an association under Spanish law. Volker Mellert has been elected the new President.
17. Next meeting
The next meeting of the Board is scheduled for Saturday, 2001 September 8 at 9:00 am.
18. Close of the meeting
The President closes the meeting at 4:00 pm.
Part B – 2001 September 8
The Commission meets on Saturday 2001 September 8 at 9:00 in the Faculty Board room in a joint meeting of the outgoing Board members and the newly elected incoming Board.
Present were:
Lawrence Crum, outgoing President
Gilles Daigle, outgoing Secretary General and newly elected President
Volker Mellert, outgoing and incoming Treasurer
Hideki Tachibana
Sonoko Kuwano
Ren-He Zhang
Giovanni Brambilla
Nikolai A. Dubrovsky
Samir Gerges
Suk Wang Yoon
Juan Gallego-Juarez
Shyam Agrawal